Before you start

Language test results — IELTS General Training or CELPIP for English, TEF or TCF for French
An Educational Credential Assessment for qualifications earned outside Canada
A passport valid well beyond the intended stay
Proof of settlement funds for some Express Entry programmes

Step-by-step

1
Create an Express Entry profile first, whatever else you do
It is free, it needs no employer, and it is the pool that a provincial nomination attaches to. Category-based draws targeting particular occupations and French-language ability regularly clear well below the general cut-off, so check the categories before concluding your score is too low.
OnlineWho: You
2
Read the current OINP page rather than any article about it
Ontario closed its previous nomination streams on 30 May 2026 and the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream is now the only one open. Advice written before mid-2026 — including a great deal that still ranks well in search — names streams that have been withdrawn. Start from the province's own page and work outwards.
OnlineWho: You
3
For a nomination, line up an employer — they start the application, not you
The surviving stream cannot be opened by the applicant. Your employer registers in Ontario's Employer Portal and submits the job offer, which generates a job offer ID; you then have 30 calendar days to register an expression of interest, and 17 calendar days to apply if invited, once your employer has submitted their own side for approval. Self-employed physicians with an OHIP billing number and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario certification are the only applicants who can proceed without a job offer.
Via employerWho: Your employer, then you
4
Sit the language test and get credentials assessed early
The Educational Credential Assessment commonly takes months and both it and the language results expire. Start the assessment before the language test rather than after; the assessment is the long pole.
OnlineWho: YouLanguage results ~2 weeks; assessment commonly 6–14 weeks
5
Gather police certificates for every country you have lived in
One for each country you lived in for six months or more since turning 18, not merely the last one. This is the single most common reason a Canadian application stalls, because some issuing authorities take months.
OnlineWho: You
6
Apply for a Social Insurance Number in your first week
Free, from Service Canada, with your passport and permit. Applying in person at a Service Canada centre usually gets the number issued during the visit. No employer can run payroll without it, so this comes before the bank and before the health card.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
7
Apply for OHIP once you have proof of an Ontario address
Health coverage is provincial and the three-month waiting period was removed in 2020, so eligible residents are covered from enrolment. Bring one document from each of the three required categories to a ServiceOntario centre.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Language test results (IELTS/CELPIP, or TEF/TCF)
Educational Credential Assessment for foreign qualifications
Police certificates for each country lived in six months or more since age 18
Immigration medical exam from a panel physician
Proof of settlement funds, where the programme requires it
A job offer ID from your employer's Employer Portal submission, for an Ontario nomination

Things most newcomers don’t know

Ontario closed every one of its nomination streams in 2026 and replaced them with one — and the replacement needs an employer.

The province withdrew its previous permanent-residence streams on 30 May 2026 and launched the Ontario Workforce Priority stream in their place; the OINP's own page now states that all other streams are closed. This is the largest structural change the programme has ever made, and two things follow from it. It stranded a very large body of published advice — consultants' pages, forum threads and news articles all still describe streams you can no longer apply to, so if a source names a stream that is not on ontario.ca today, stop reading it. And the job-offer-free streams went with the rest: the surviving route is employer-initiated, so a candidate sitting in the Express Entry pool without an employer no longer has a provincial door at all.

Source: Ontario — Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program

A provincial nomination is worth 600 points — but only on a TEER 0–3 occupation that also clears a federal stream.

The Comprehensive Ranking System tops out well below the score a nomination produces, so a nominated candidate is invited in the next relevant draw as a practical certainty. The catch in the new stream is that the Express Entry link is conditional: it applies if you applied on a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation and separately meet the minimum criteria of a federal Express Entry stream. TEER 4 and 5 applicants are nominated outside Express Entry, which reaches the same status by a different and slower route. Work out which side of that line your occupation sits on before planning around 600 points.

Source: Ontario — Ontario Workforce Priority stream

Nothing about this is specific to Mississauga, and treating GTA municipalities as different immigration jurisdictions wastes months.

Newcomers regularly ask whether it is easier to get nominated for Mississauga than for Toronto. Ontario nominates for Ontario. The city you settle in does not change your eligibility, your score or your processing time — it changes your rent and your commute. The only immigration reason to prefer one Canadian city over another is a genuinely provincial or regional programme, and inside the GTA there is not one.

Source: community-reported, consistently corroborated

Category-based draws are where a modest score becomes a real chance.

IRCC runs draws targeting specific occupation categories and French-language ability alongside the general ones, and those cut-offs are routinely far lower. People with scores in the low 400s write themselves off against a general cut-off and never check whether their occupation has its own category. It takes ten minutes and it is the highest-value ten minutes in the whole process.

Source: IRCC — Express Entry rounds of invitations

Common mistakes to avoid

Working from any OINP guidance written before mid-2026 — the streams it names were closed on 30 May 2026.
Waiting for an employer before creating a free Express Entry profile, which needs none — while assuming the reverse of the provincial route, which now needs one.
Missing the 30-day expression-of-interest window that opens when your employer submits the job offer.
Letting language results or the credential assessment expire while waiting for a draw.
Requesting only one police certificate when you have lived in three countries.
Assuming choosing Mississauga over Toronto changes anything about your immigration position.
Starting work before the Social Insurance Number is issued and delaying your own first pay.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

Make it your personal checklist

Globe Quest turns this into a tracked, AI-personalized plan for Mississauga — timed to your move date, with reminders so nothing slips. Free to start.